Star Wars: Corruption (Part 1 of 3)
by J.C. Lambing
Summary: Two friends uncover a dark secret in the Republic that drives both of them apart. One chooses the path of light, and tries his best to save the Republic and Jedi Order from themselves while keeping his friend from falling to the dark side. The other chooses the path of darkness, and vows to destroy not only the Republic and Jedi Order, but everything connected to the Force.
1. Prolouge

The Blue Bottom cantina was crowded with all flocks of life; most of the crowd was Tatooine's underworld but a few of them were rich travelers looking for adventure or bounty hunters looking for their next big bounty. With everyone focused on the Twi'lek dancers and music, nobody noticed the two young Jedi Padawans walking into the cantina. Both of them had light brown robes with white trimming and the hoods drawn back. One was a white male human with thick blonde hair while the other was a light blue female Twi'lek. The two of them headed straight for a back table where a man dressed in all black robes sat with his hood covering his face.

They stopped at the edge of his table, and the man did not move; he just continued to stare into his half full mug of some cheap Outer Rim alcohol. The human male was the first to speak up, "Excuse me, are you the one they call the Outcast?"

The man reached out with a pale white hand, and grabbed the mug. Without answering the young human, the man brought the mug up and took a long drink from it, his lips hidden behind a thick grey beard. When he pulled the mug away from his lips, he slammed it down on the table. Both Padawans jumped, but no one else seemed too noticed.

The Twi'lek was the next one to speak up, "Are you going to answer my friend or not?"

"And who wants to know?" The man demanded in a deep voice.

The two looked at one another, and smiled. The Twi'lek answered the man, "We are Jedi Padawans from the Order. We are helping our Master in the Jedi Archives. He sent us here to interview the one they call the Outcast."

The man sat back in his chair and scratched his beard; his hood still covered the rest of his face. "I get that you two are Padawans from the Order. Your pretty much scream that. But to answer you first question, I am the one they call the Outcast, but why did your Master send his two Padawans instead of coming himself?"

"Our Master is very busy with helping restore the Order." The Twi'lek replied.

The man laughed, "You're going to have to lie to me better than that, young one."

The Twi'lek looked stunned, and the human male quickly responded, "The Order did not want to send our Master out because they felt that this would be a waste of time. Our Master, however, disagreed completely and sent us instead."

The man laughed again, "The Order fears what they do not understand, but they are not wrong, this is a big waste of time and resources. I have nothing to say to you or the Order. Your master is a fool for send you here against the Order's will. They would be very displeased if they found out that your Master sent you two here."

The young human slammed his fists against the table, "Our Master wants answers, and we intend to get them for him."

The man reached out for the mug, but the human male reached out with the Force and pulled it away. The man seemed angered by this, and he too reached out with the Force. The two struggled as they both pulled the mug back and forward until the mug tipped and spilled out the remaining alcohol. The man grunted as the young male whipped off his robes for a little bit of the alcohol spilt on him.

"I apologize for my friend's behavior, but he is not wrong. Our Master wants answers for the events that led up to the attack on the Order. The Order may want to erase the whole affair, but our Master wants to preserve that part of our history so that a tragedy like this never happens again." The female Twi'lek responded, "Our Master did not tell us that we would find the Outcast in a drunken stupor."

The man leaned forward, "I take offense to that girl. If you knew what I knew, you would want to drink your memories away too."

The Twi'lek sat down on the bench in front of the man, "Than please share your memories with us so that we too can feel your pain."

The human male sat beside her without saying a word. The man did not pull his hood back as he looked at the two Padawans sitting across from him. He darkly asked the two, "Are you two sure you want to know? This is not something I feel should be remembered."

Both the Padawans nodded but the Twi'lek replied, "The Order needs to remember its past so that way the Order does not repeat what happened."

"Very well then; a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…"


	2. Chapter 1

_This story takes place several years after the following events, but I feel that they need to be explained in order to truly know what happened during the war. This part of the story is about Kane Tiberius, my best friend. He was born on a mining colony out in the Outer Rim region. His father was a miner on the colony while his mother was a doctor, but Kane fell into his father work due to being male and that meant as soon as he could walk, he was sent into the mines. However, at the age of five, Kane started to show signs of being a force user. When one of the mines collapsed, it was the five year old Kane who saved the trapped miners by feeling for them through the force. Then by the age of seven, Kane become powerful enough to bend objects to his will. If he was left alone on the mining colony, he would have never been discovered by the Jedi._

_ However, his faith was not to be left on that mining colony. Sometime after he turned eleven, a group of pirates raided his colony, killing everyone and taking Kane as a slave. Kane was later sold to an uprising Hut on Tatooine. This is where my father and I met Kane, and is the first chapter of many chapters of Kane's life. I was just a young boy of twelve; Kane at the time was thirteen. My father was a merchant selling silks in the area, and I was… well…_

"Stop him!" Several guards shouted as they chased a young boy through the busy streets of Tatooine.

The young boy, with his short red hair, was able to move faster than the fat guards. In his hands was a bundle of rare stones that a local gangster had just dug up from the desert outside of the port. The young boy laughed and stuck out his tongue at the guards, "You won't be able to catch me at that rate."

The guards continued to shout at the boy, but he was too fast for them to follow and he eventually lost them in a dark alley. The young boy watched as they ran past his hiding spot. Once he could no longer hear them shouting for him, he laughed and unwrapped the rare stones, "Dad is going to love these. He could sell these to that nasty Hut and we could get off this hot planet. Maybe go someplace nice for once."

The boy rewrapped the shiny red stones and started walking out of the alley, but was stopped when he heard something move behind him. He slowly turned around to see that he was face to face with a baby Dewback. The boy smirked, and bowed to the baby that was digging around in the trash, "I am sorry for interrupting your lunch."

The baby Dewback shrieked and started to charge the boy. The boy's eyes widen and he started to run from it. The Dewback was not as slow as the guards, and was able to keep up with the boy, nipping at his heels until the boy made his way back to the crowded streets and the Dewback returned to its alley. The boy mocked the retreating creatures, until he noticed two of the six guards that were chasing him early looking around for him. He turned and vanished in the crowd, making his way to the cantina where his father was staying. Getting through the crowd was easy for the young boy, and getting inside the cantina was even easier.

Once inside, the young boy made it into the back but was quickly stopped by a large Gamorrean guard and a fat Twi'lek advisor, "Stop right there, this is no place for a child. Turn around now."

"I am here to see Alan Sunsetter." The boy responded to the fat Twi'lek.

"I do not know who that is, now go child before I have to have my guard remove you."

The boy smirked and looked past the guard and into the large room. He could clearly make out a large Hut sitting on top of its pedestal, and in the middle of the room was a man wearing nice purple and yellow silk robes, with long straight red hair pulled back in a ponytail. The boy shouted, "Father!"

The man turned around and smiled, "Rowyn, what on earth took you so long?"

Rowyn pushed past the Twi'lek and approached his father, "I was out in the desert and I found these. I think our host would like to look at them."

Rowyn's father took the bundle that Rowyn was holding out and unwrap it to reveal the shiny red stones. The Hut's eyes widen with joy and his tail flicked with excitement. Alan turned back to the Hut, "As you can see, my son has a keen eye for valuables and rare items. You can buy these stones along with these rare silks from me at any time."

The Hut called for his advisor, and the fat Twi'lek came in. The two talked in a language that Rowyn did not understand. After talking the Twi'lek clapped his hands and a hidden door opened. A young boy with long thick black hair walked into the room holding a chest. He had a chain around his neck, and legs. Rowyn had not seen a human slave his whole life and quickly pulled on his father's robes. Alan turned to his son to see what he needed, "Father, why is that human in chains?"

"Boss Tato has a thing for human slaves, especially young males. That boy is one of Boss Tato's slaves. He is most likely born a slave."

"What does Boss Tato do to them?"

"If the stories are true, Boss Tato likes to torture them and beat them."

Rowyn swallowed hard and Alan patted him on the head, "Do not worry son, nothing will happen to you. Boss Tato might be the most ruthless and rich Hut at the moment, but remember who your father is. I'm Alan Sunsetter, the most ruthless merchant in the Outer Rims, and I have a promise to keep with my son."

The Twi'lek advisor cleared his throat, "Is there a problem here?"

Alan smiled as he turned back to the Hut, "No problem here, just explaining something to my boy. So do we have a deal or not?"

"Boss Tato is more interested in those Blood Stones then your silks. They are a rare gem that only forms inside the caves out in the desert. However, Boss Tato worries that the stones rarity might be a risk, seeing how a local gangster owns all the Blood Stone mines. If Boss Tato would sell them on the open market, the gang lord might think he stole them." The advisor stated.

The young slave opened the chest, which had several other rare stones. Alan shook his head, "So Boss Tato wants to trade rare stones for the Blood Stones instead of buying them?"

"Correct, that way he can sell them on the black market as a mystery item, but if he buys them then it can be traced back to him."

The slave looked at Rowyn with his light blue eyes. Rowyn pulled on his father's robes again, and Alan held up one finger, "Give me one second to discuss this with my partner."

Alan turned to Rowyn, "What do you think son; should we just take the rocks and go sale them to this local gangster, or should we just pull out of this deal all together?"

Rowyn shook his head, "I think we should get that slave out of here."

Alan looked over his shoulder to see that young boy staring blankly and emotionless at them, but in his eyes there was a deep sadness. Alan looked back at his own son, and saw that his son wanted to help the slave. He smiled and stood up straight and tall in front of the Hut, "No deal. Instead, keep your rare stones. I want the slave."

The Hut growled in anger and disbelief. The Twi'lek advisor quickly calmed his master and then turned to Alan, "That boy is Boss Tato's favorite slave, why should he just trade him?"

"Well, if it helps, I will throw in the silks. That way you can sell the Blood Stones on the black market with having them traced back to you. Sell your rare stones and silks, have three times the amount of credits. All it will cost you is one slave."

Boss Tato grunted and pulled on the boy's chain. The boy made no noise as he was pulled to the ground. Rowyn flinched as the boy picked himself back up and stood there as a statue. The advisor and Boss Tato started to talk, and then the advisor responded to Alan, "Boss Tato agrees with you. This boy is worth it all. He will give you the boy for the Blood Stones and the silks."

Alan bowed, "I thank you. I will take the boy now."

Boss Tato let go of the boy's chain and Rowyn and Alan quickly gathered the boy and left the cantina. Once they got to the spaceport and onto their own ship, did Alan and Rowyn finally able to feel at ease. The slave boy, however, did not say a word as they went through the crowded streets, even as people glared at him. Once on the ship, Alan took the helm, while Rowyn and the boy sat in the back. The ship roared to life, and lifted off the ground. Rowyn showed the slave boy around the ship's two bedrooms, cockpit, small living area, and large holding area once they were in outer space.

After the tour, Alan showed the boy how to work the shower and gave him some extra cloths. Rowyn and Alan waited for the boy in their living area. Rowyn still seemed sad, "Do you think he understands that he is no longer a slave?"

"I do not know." Alan responded as he prepared a home cooked meal for the three of them.

"Do you think he even speaks? He has yet to say a word to me."

Before Alan could respond, the boy came out of the shower. He was wearing the same baggy brown clothes that Rowyn was wearing. The boy bowed to the two, "Thank you for getting me away from that slimy Hut. If I had to take one more of his beatings I was going to snap. My name is Kane Tiberius, and I am forever in your debt."


End file.
